Lofton talks about cancer after keeping mum his senior year

Lofton, The Associated Press' SEC Player of the Year as a junior and a second-team All-American, usually was the first one in the gym to take shots before practice, and he would stay late for more work. But there were days during the summer when he couldn't even get out of bed because of the nausea and pain from radiation treatment - something he didn't expect.

He was a preseason All-American going into his senior season but started off in a shooting slump.

Pearl gave several reasons for Lofton's slump during the season: His shot wasn't falling, the team had more offensive balance than before, Lofton was contributing in other ways.

Pearl says now that everything he said was true, but he always knew that part of the reason could be that Lofton wasn't 100 percent physically or mentally. He just couldn't tell anyone that.

"Chris didn't want it to be a distraction to his teammates, therefore he didn't tell his teammates," Pearl said. "And he certainly didn't want an excuse if he wasn't playing quite as well as the year before."

The questions about Lofton's play from fans and reporters certainly bothered the senior, Pearl said.

The team finally got to a point about halfway through the season where Pearl knew Lofton needed to take more shots and find better ways to get open. So he told Lofton he needed more to keep the team from losing and immediately saw a difference.

"You push the team button with Chris Lofton, and everything else is a moot point. He was then able to push everything else aside," he said.

He finished the season leading Tennessee in scoring with 15.5 points per game, though it was a drop from his 20.8 average the previous season. He was picked as a third-team All-American.

Pearl said he's fielded a number of calls and e-mails from fellow coaches, fans and cancer survivors telling him what an inspiration Lofton is.

"I've never coached a player who's faced so much adversity and put it aside," Pearl said.

"Chris is rare."